adherence to the other principles. Something seemingly simple as k not-tying aloft on a swaying m as t as part of the sail-setting team beginning a day of offshore sailing is just one of the ma ny examples of the integrated Elissa trai nin g w here individual techn ical proficiency is requi red for overall success. Mark Scibinico explains how this program originated, and what it means for the evolution ofprogramming aboard Elissa at the Galveston H istorical Foundation:
MARK SCIBINICO: Sail training is clearly a passion of mine, and fo r a restored and fully op eration al historic ship like Elissa, it has become her life blood. As so m any stewards of museum ships h ave fo und, there is a d rive to learn the skills of the p as t and to connect them with the modern wo rld in a meaningful way. In the past, while working in sailing ships, I h ave often joked wit h visitors that sailing ships were the space sh ips of their era. I meant it to be thought-p rovoking and humorous, but I truly meant it. It's so easy to draw the parallel of a gro up of sailors, setting our into the un known carryi ng everyth ing with them they would need to survive. R ight down to the skills of navigation, the sailor of old needed con fidence, tea mwork, and a self- reliance th at is hard to come by in this m odern d igitally connec ted world. Even the brave m en and wo men in the International Sp ace Station today are more in contac t with the res t of the world than Captain Cook was when he sailed out of sight of shore. In 2 01 2 I h ad th e good fo rtune of meeting with NASA astronaut Cady C oleman, who the year befo re had taken a piece of Elissa's deck w ith her on an expedition to the Internation al Space Station. I asked her if she wo uld like to cli mb aloft at the dock, and she promptly proceeded to suit up to m ake the climb. Aloft on th e top platform, as we looked aro und the h arbor, I began to give th e usual talk about sail training-how valuable I thought it was and how it push ed and ch allenged people. It's easy to mak e an imp ression w hen yo u have a captive audience, and it was good fun to entertain th e idea of runn in g a training program for as tronauts . Fast fo rward to a year later: I received
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Mariners always say that up "aloft is the closest to heaven sailors ever get." NASA astronauts training onboard Elissa hop e to get even closer.
a phone call from C hristina Koch, a member of the 21" NASA as tronaut class. Christina and I had met socially a few years back through mutual friends, and I had taken the ch ance then to suggest the training program. After almost eight months of hard work after that conve rsation, th ree personnel fro m NASA Johnson Space Centerastro n auts C hristina Koch and M egan M cArthur, and N ASA Fligh t Director Mary Lawrence-walked down the Texas Seaport Museum dock for two weeks of sail training. We designed the course as an intensive program based on Elissa's existing sail training progra m. The three partici-
pated in a week of classroom and hands-on instruction, followed by a week onboard the ship, where they trained a nd sailed alon gside our crew. We work with sail trainees yea r round, but for me this particu lar experience was truly a joy. It was challenging and rewa rding, and I k now our trainees took away life lessons and go t a dose of wh at sail training can bring to a person's everyday life. The experience was good for Elissa's program as well. Their depth of experience and op enness to being in a specialized training program gave us an outsider's look at ou r own philosophy and prac tices, and
(l-r) NASAs Mary Lawrence, M egan McArthur, and Christina Koch in Galveston for sail training -,~l~i~~~~~~~~~~ aboard the 1877 barque Elissa.
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